Joseph
Gordon-Levitt is one of his generations most charismatic actors. He
is the center of this glossy, fast-paced film. It's a shame that his
charisma couldn't keep the flat story afloat.
The
movie follows a day in the life a NYC bicycle messenger Wilee
(pronounced like the coyote) who picks up a parcel that he has to
take to Chinatown. But a seemingly psycho played with over the top
hamminess by Michael Shannon chases him through the streets of the
city in a race against time. But Wilee is no ordinary bike
messenger. He intentionally quit law school, so we know he's smart.
And he rides on a bike with NO gears and NO brakes, so we know he's
fearless! And despite this, the movie cannot generate the interest
necessary to carry it through.
Some
of the visuals are a good deal of fun. Watching Wilee come to a stop
without brakes by having to constantly fish-tail is actually a nice
bit of visual flair. We also get to see into his mind as he has to
make split-second decisions as he weaves through the traffic to avoid
getting clobbered by obstacle after obstacle. And in the early parts
of the movie, the tension rises nicely, pulling you deeper into the
mystery of the package he has.
But
then it all falls apart. In order to jump right into the action, the
movie skips quickly to the moment Wilee picks up his envelope. In
order to understand the motivations of those who are after the
package, the script employs a series of flashbacks at various
junctures. This actually slows the movie down and I immediately
thought back to 2008's Vantage
Point,
a film that was decent enough but weighed down by its own rewind
gimmick The flashbacks in Premium
Rush
don't help much because the characters are so flimsy.
Shannon's
character is so obviously bad that he should be twirling a mustache.
And Wilee is such a rebel that there is no way he can ever be
outfoxed. Gordon-Levitt and Shannon do what they can with these
characters, but it is an exercise in futility. If these fine actors
come off badly, then I don't even want to talk about how poorly the
supporting cast seems.
Like
last weeks review of The
Expendables 2,
there is less focus on story and more on style. That would be fine,
but Premium
Rush
makes a fundamental mistake opposite of Stallone's movie. Whereas
The
Expendables 2
built to a conclusion that was an orgy of blood and bullets, Premium
Rush
starts with lots of slick, speedy cycling. But then the end is such
a let-down.
I'm
not saying that the end is necessarily silly, but it felt like the
writers envisioned something bigger and then gave up. In the movie
Gleaming
the Cube,
Christian Slater gets an army of his skateboarding friends to help
take down an arms smuggler. In Quicksilver,
Kevin Bacon gets other bike messengers to aid him to do battle with a
drug dealer. Both ideas in the film are silly on their face, but it
fits with the tone of the movie and it feels right. Premium
Rush
builds to a crescendo and then stops. It's like someone inhaling
right before a big sneeze and then... nothing.
Premium
Rush
is not a bad movie. But it also isn't a very good one either.
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